Boy Scout STEM/Nova & Supernova Related Awards

Below is a tiered list of merit badges related to the Boy Scout Nova & Supernova Awards. Tier 1 includes merit badges that are STEM related in their entirety, whereas Tier 2 includes merit badges that have only a few STEM related requirements.

Other Resources

NESA STEM SCHOLARSHIP

NEW SCHOLARSHIP Promotes Science and Math Education -
As the economy struggles and college costs rise, scholarships are becoming more important than ever. So the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) is proud to announce that it has permanently funded a new annual Eagle Scout scholarship.

The NESA STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Scholarship will be awarded annually to an Eagle Scout who intends to major and pursue a career in one of those fields. Applicants must submit the Eagle Scout Academic Scholarships application (available from www.NESA.org/scholarships.html). The application must include a signed statement—one the applicant has written—that details his education and career goals in a STEM-related field, as well as a signed reference letter from a high school teacher in that field. The first NESA STEM Scholarship was awarded on June 1, 2012, at the Boy Scouts of America’s National Annual Meeting.

The new scholarship aligns with the BSA’s renewed emphasis on promoting science and technology, fields where American students seriously lag their counterparts around the world. (Three-fourths of America’s fastest growing occupations require significant math and science preparation, yet less than 15 percent of high school graduates are prepared to pursue scientific or technical training in college, according to one study.)

BLASTCAR™

The new Blastcar™ racing activity is a merit-badge-driven activity intended for Boy Scouts. Scouts can use their knowledge to experience the engineering design process through sketching an idea for their racer, laying out a design, constructing the car, conducting trial tests, modifying their design, and adding finishing details. Scouts design their racers for optimum performance on the course(s) they’ve engineered as a team.